Alyssa Kjellberg still can't believe it. Two years beyond college, her career path has led only to jobs at a greenhouse, a hotel front desk, an aunt's office and a seasonal landscaping company -- all paying less than $12 an hour.

After applying for about 100 jobs, the environmental science major even offered "one week of free labor'' last summer to get a foot in the door at the landscaping company. But that job ended with the season, as will the one she's in now. Her dream of becoming a park ranger or environmental educator is drifting away.

Kjellberg had envisioned landing a government job at a park where she could be an educator or conservationist. Making ends meet by working in her aunt's office and moving back to her mother's house were not part of the plan.

A decade ago, such a serious job hunter was far more likely to land a job related to their training. Some still do today, but the norm is a longer job search punctuated by multiple entry-level jobs and internships -- sometimes unpaid.

Her boyfriend, Dan Olson, estimates he has had 15 employers in the past four years.

Maybe she should have a real degree where actual work is involved. Last time I checked, B.A. Nurses are in high demand. So are Physician Assistants and of course M.D.’s. Mechanical, electrical and civil engineers can get jobs. So can geologist and fire protection. If she wanted a real job she needed a real major. A real major and a plan.

6
posted on 05/05/2012 8:50:11 AM PDT
by DariusBane
(People are like sheep and have two speeds: grazing and stampede)

Maybe she should have a real degree where actual work is involved. Last time I checked, B.A. Nurses are in high demand. So are Physician Assistants and of course M.D.s.

Not anymore, thanks to Obamacare. Hospitals are already laying off nurses and imposing hiring freezes, and doctors are almost not breaking even because of high malpractice insurance costs and lower billing as forced by Obamacare.

10
posted on 05/05/2012 8:52:40 AM PDT
by Thunder90
(Romney barely won in OH with a 12-1 money advantage, he can't beat Obama that way.)

Actually there’s lots and lots and lots of money in environmental science. She should follow Professor of environmental science Al Gore and his methods: Invest in a green company that makes useless BS, then get Congress to pass a bill that forces the citizens to buy that useless BS.

13
posted on 05/05/2012 8:53:33 AM PDT
by GrandJediMasterYoda
(Some day our schools will teach the difference between "lose" and "loose")

... never had much basis in reality in the first place. So now she wakes up and understands that the world doesn't exist to indulge her dreams, and that when she can make some kind of measurable contribution to society, she will be gainfully employed.

No. I’ve taken Geology I and Geology II and every time I questioned the mathematics behind Global Warming I was ridiculed in front of the class or shouted down. Even when presenting valid arguments questioning the application of the various statistical methods, I was ignored.

Also colleges today are nothing more than leftist indoctrination centers where you get the most radical of the radical teaching kids. Terrorists even like Bill Ayers “teaching”.

When I went in the late 70s early 80’s we still had Professors who started in the 1950s, one who use to absolutely hate commies, and would constantly call for Carters impeachment. And then we started getting maybe one or two hardcore leftists like my English teacher who demanded a moment of silence for the King of the hippies John Lennon when Lennon was shot, which was interuppted when I cut a big fart (oh yes I did). Yes, “Give peace a chance” which resuted in 2 million Cambodians being slaughtered. How about a moment of silence for them?

But today? BIG difference. All those middle of the road or to the right Professors are gone and those leftists who started coming into teaching positions in the 1970s have completely overtaken colleges like a cancer, and the aren’t like the occasional Professor you would find in the past who was into communism. No, these ones are for the complete destruction of the United states. They support terrorism, an end to capitalism, abolishment of the constitution, and they got into teaching on purpose because they knew through our school they coud acheive those goals by brainwashing kids. And to me THAT is why these kids aren’t being hired.

25
posted on 05/05/2012 9:15:37 AM PDT
by GrandJediMasterYoda
(Some day our schools will teach the difference between "lose" and "loose")

You state on your page that you are an econ major. Why not switch to engineering if your school has such a great rating? And what is that school? In NC? I got my engineering degree at U Michigan. GO BLUE. I have grandkids that Iam urging to go to a technical school and do something that sells.

My school is North Carolina State University and I have 2 reasons why I am not a (Preferably Mechanical) engineering major.

1) I was HORRIBLE at math in high school and early college therefore I was originally Poli-Sci. I had intended to attend Law School but after studying and taking the LSAT ( I did quite well) I found I HATED Law. Therefore, I transferred to B.S.- Economics to acquire a background in Business and try to discover how the world works. (My father has an Econ degree from Columbia back in the mid-late 60’s and he encouraged this). I then found that I LOVED Economics (Primarily Macro) and that I love math! My parents are still amazed that their kid who couldn’t do 10% of 100 in his head can make A’s in advanced mathematics courses! haha Anyways, I have spent the last 2 years doing nothing but Econ and Math and have been quite happy.

2) While taking my math courses (Diff Eq, Statistics, Calculus, Linear Algebra, etc.) I was talking with some engineering guys which the math classes were primarily made up of and got interested in Mechanical Engineering. Seeing that I LOVE Econ, I decided to pick up some used textbooks on the subject (Thermo, etc.) and take mechanical up as a hobby. Masochistic I know.

So, in short, the reason that I am not an engineering major is due to monetary reasons. 7 years in college is EXPENSIVE! On top of that, I love Economics so I’m not upset with my choice.

Setting up aquaculture, rehabilitating brown-field sites, teaching gardening to urban youths, setting up and running urban and suburban food-coops, starting and running urban food gardens for food banks - there are options that fit both her degree and her desires.

Setting up aquaculture, rehabilitating brown-field sites, teaching gardening to urban youths, setting up and running urban and suburban food-coops, starting and running urban food gardens for food banks - there are options that fit both her degree and her desires.

Sounds like she's made herself perfectly qualified to become an excellent peasant in Obama's communist utopia.

35
posted on 05/05/2012 10:31:36 AM PDT
by Sparticus
(Tar and feathers for the next dumb@ss Republican that uses the word bipartisanship.)

It says in the article that she hoped to get a “federal” job working or teaching in a park.

It must be very galling to learn that she did everything right, everything the libs want her to do and she is being denied the fruits of her labor, i.e. a lifetime government job where the taxpayers foot the bill for everything.

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